Seventeen Magazine Responds…

I got an email from a listener who had written to Seventeen to complain about the article. She sent me a copy of their response, or as she said: “let’s be sure not to alienate anyone, was their bottom line. Good grief!”

Good grief, indeed. I’ll let you be the judge. Here’s the letter from Seventeen:

Thank you for your letter. We are very interested in all of your comments, questions and concerns.

Seventeen has a readership of millions of girls, and it is our mission, indeed our obligation, to give these girls information, entertainment and advice they can turn to. As the oldest magazine in existence for teenagers, we also have 60 years of experience in talking to them and finding ways of getting them to listen. We have found that when teens feel they are being lectured, condescended to, or getting nothing but “don’ts,” they stop listening.

What we attempt to do in every article is to give teens basic facts and warnings, in an effort to make sure that if they do decide to take a step, like to become sexually active, they are aware of the most likely issues and safety conditions and will at least think twice about what they are doing and try to do it in the most responsible way possible.

We at Seventeen work as best we can to get the right kind of message across without alienating readers. We will continue to try to give our readers advice that works, and to serve them as well as we can.